This series of book-length studies, to be published by the Edwin MellenPress, is a new venture in the area of Irish Studies. Its thematicapproach will be interdisciplinary so that the developments in literaryand cultural theory can be brought to bear on issues concernedwith Irishness.

*Ireland in Theory* will imbricate the theoretical developments of the lastfifty years with a questioning of the epistemological status of Irishwriting, Irish culture and Irish identity, and their interaction.

By refusing to be limited by the traditional frameworks of academicdisciplines, such a series will cross the boundaries that have keptliterature, cultural studies, social studies, political studies,ideological studies and ethnic and racial studies apart, and bringabout a new constellation in which all aspects of the Irishexperience can be studied in new and challenging ways.

I would see such a series as concentrating on the following areas:

Studies which bring new theoretical perspectives to bear on the works of individual writers, or groups of writers, of any period or genre.

Studies of more general areas in terms of historical periods, or generic divisions, wherein new interpretations of the underlying trends could bring about some genuinely fresh conclusions. Various related issues, such as folklore studies, ethnography, cultural studies and literary and theoretical studies could be included in the series, making it a comprehensive contribution to the field.

Studies which interrogate the political or ideological consequences of texts, and their readings, and which view the works of Irish writers as constitutive of different notions of Irishness, and Irish identity.

Studies which examine the different enunciations of Irishnesses - republican, nationalist, unionist, loyalist, religious, pluralist - or the interaction of any of these.

Studies which examine the influence of Europe on constructions of Irishness; or which examine diasporic influences on Irishness in all its facets. Hyphenated notions of identity, or borderline notions of Irishness, either literary or political are also encouraged.

The series is open to any of these approaches, or to any interrogation theway in which the notion of Ireland has been enculturated, is beingenculturatedor might possibly be enculturated in the future.